I might have shared this with
@Trish, once upon a time...
In 2010, when I planted my first daylily, the online friend who told me about them said:
"And you can join garden clubs, and make new friends!" My reply was:
"You assume I want to make new friends!"
I put
after it, but I wasn't really joking. I was very happy as a hermit, and had no interest in changing.
Then
@Sharon told me about ATP, which was still in its infancy. I wandered in, and found a home. I meandered through the forums, eventually settling in at the Daylilies Forum, pulling my rocker onto their porch swing and getting super comfortable.
There was a member there,
@Casshigh, who was actually semi-local to me. She invited me to a meeting at her daylily club.
Thing is, I was a hermit for a reason, and the reason is called "social anxiety." The thought of attending her daylily meeting was scary, but at the same time, intriguing. So I went. And I joined her club. And the next month, I went to ANOTHER daylily club meeting with her, at a different group. And I joined that club, too.
And not only did I join, I started participating!
And oddly enough, as I started interacting in real life with all these "crazy" daylily people, I started healing, and my social anxiety lessened. I found myself doing even more new things with new people. In fact, last month I had to finally retire my "hermit" status, because it no longer applies.
These days, my challenge is finding time to stay home.
I am a different person today than I was when Sharon invited me over to ATP, And part of the reason is because of the people here, who have such a great knack for making others feel comfortable, whether it's online or in real life.
Like I said: ATP changed my life.
